Students at SouthPointe School in Fort Saskatchewan helped the local food bank restock one of their key items on Monday (Dec. 19) morning.
Since the end of November, students have come together to construct a massive toilet paper tree that consisted of over 1000 rolls.
Manny Peterson, 10, is one of the grade five students that helped get donations together.
"We planned to build a toilet paper tree to represent everybody in the community [and that they] should be healthy, stay warm, and have a roof above their head," said Peterson.
The initial plan was to have multiple trees sitting flat against the wall, but one of them collapsed in the middle of the night. This sparked a new approach.
"We did have one or two trees and we put them all together for a big tree," said Peterson.
Samantha Lee was another grade five student who helped out.
"It was definitely a journey," said Lee. "[The first tree] fell because it didn't have good structure, so we built it back up and made it better."
One of the teachers at SouthPointe, Carole Bossert, helped get the idea of the initiative' rolling' after chatting with Kassandra Gartner, the executive director of the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank, about some of their most needed items.
"Kassandra came and spoke to our grade fives about the food banks and she did a really good job of teaching us and educating us about what the food bank does," said Bossert. "The kids made posters, they were excited, and the education that she gave us about what the Fort Saskatchewan Food Bank does was really beneficial for our school community."
"I'm a proud resident of Fort Saskatchewan but I am a super proud teacher at SouthPoint School. I just love how when our kids are given a challenge they come together and collaborate in amazing ways."
In total, the school was able to raise 1089 rolls to give to the food bank.
Gartner was on hand to accept the donation.
"They did a tremendous job," said Gartner. "They worked really well as a group, and we can see it was a big focus for their school which resulted in a massive amount."
"I'm excited to take this back to the food bank!"